ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday took notice of the statement of former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry to retract his statement about the case of heroin recovery from PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah and clarify his misplaced statement about the subjudice matter.
A day earlier, Fawad Chaudhry had claimed during a talk show that the alleged narcotics case pursued against incumbent interior minister Rana Sanaullah was “rubbish”.
An informed source in the PTI told Pakistan Today that soon after the footage of Fawad Chaudhry’s interview started taking rounds on social media, Imran Khan got alarmed and called Fawad Chaudhry and directed him to clarify his [mis]statement about the sub-judice case and clarify his claim.
Following Imran Khan interaction with Khan, Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter saying that in successive briefings, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Narcotics Control Minister Shehryar Afridi were informed that heroin was recovered from [the possession of] Rana Sanaullah and that all evidence in this regard is available [with the ANF].
“Shehryar Afridi was speaking on behalf of the ANF and he still believes that the case was bonafide and based on facts,” he added.
شہریار آفریدی اور وزیر اعظم ہاؤس کو دی جانیوالی بریفنگز میں بار بار بتایا گیا کہ رانا ثناآللہ سے ہیروئن برآمد ہوئ اور اس کے تمام ثبوت موجود ہیں، شہریار آفریدی اپنے محکمے کی طرف سے فراہم کردہ معلومات پر بات کر رہے تھے اور انھیں اب بھی یقین ہے کہ کیس درست ہے https://t.co/EBewtojwZ1
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) July 8, 2022
During an interview with a private news channel on Thursday, the PTI leader said, “when this case was brought before the cabinet and I spoke up about it, the concerned officer left”.
In response to who the “concerned officer” was, Chaudhry’s response was vague. However, he stated that he never believed the case had merit, “when I asked questions regarding the case, I knew the case was just rubbish.”
Referring to former state minister for narcotics control Shehryar Afridi’s oath which had taken regarding the case’s veracity, Chaudhry remarked, “what he did was wrong”.
Sanaullah was arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) on July 1, 2019, from the Islamabad-Lahore motorway. The ANF claimed to have recovered 15 kilogrammes of heroin and other drugs from his possession during the operation conducted on a tip-off.
The PML-N leader insisted he had been implicated in a false case and was being politically victimised.
Afridi during a national assembly session stated, “If you [Sanaullah] are speaking the truth then you must face the trial and do not use the delaying tactics.”
Furthermore, the ANF had accused Sanaullah of drug trafficking, stating that the minister admitted to being involved in practice for the last few years.
“Rana Sanaullah used to take drugs from Afghans in Faisalabad and supply them abroad. He said his vehicle was not checked so he used to smuggle drugs in his personal vehicle,” the challan said.
